Kobayashi's interview with the answers to these questions reveals that BMW's "three views" on electrification are correct.

For traditional automobile manufacturers like BMW, on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure the steady development of traditional fuel vehicle business, and at the same time, it is necessary to vigorously lay out a new track of "electrification+intelligence". How to balance the two aspects of input and output has become extremely challenging. BMW's strategic choice is to return to the origin of users' needs-to protect users' right to choose.

Text | Yang Xiaolin

Figure | Source Network

Even at the moment when there are many "unfavorable" rumors in the market, we are still firmly optimistic about the 8 1 1 lithium-ion power battery we have chosen, and do not follow the trend of "changing power" technology that looks tall for a short time and flashy for a long time, and do not sacrifice the bottom line of quality and safety for the pursuit of so-called cool intelligent experience. These are the "three views" that BMW adheres to in the new era of electrification.

On September 13 and 14, BMW and its joint venture BMW Brilliance in China ushered in two happy events in succession. The first is to innovate BMW. IX3 pure electric SUV made its debut in China market and announced its pre-sale price. The second phase of BMW Brilliance Power Battery Factory was officially put into use. These two key steps provide evidence for BMW to achieve a sustained lead among traditional automobile giants.

At one time, BMW was the most radical representative of traditional luxury car manufacturers. A few years before the birth of Audi e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQC electric vehicles, the arrival of BMW i3 and i8 has been announced in advance, and the arrival of a new era of electric future travel is imminent. At that time, BMW, which was strategically leading, overestimated the market development and user acceptance, especially ignored the new track of intelligence.

Otherwise, it is difficult for a new car manufacturer like Tesla to break through as a "latecomer". For traditional automobile manufacturers like BMW, on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure the steady development of traditional fuel vehicle business, and at the same time, it is necessary to vigorously lay out a new track of "electrification+intelligence". How to balance the two aspects of input and output has become extremely challenging. BMW's strategic choice is to return to the origin of user demand.

As a result, "protecting users' right to choose" has become a new goal and direction constantly emphasized by the top management of BMW Group. In the China market, on the one hand, BMW continues to dig deep into traditional market segments such as efficient fuel power, on the other hand, it vigorously lays out the "new four modernizations" to meet the challenges initiated by new car-making forces including Tesla. In the choice of electrification, new products are introduced according to the needs of market development.

Including from 5 series, X 1 plug-in hybrid to innovative BMW? The launch of iX3 pure electric vehicles has followed this strategic choice.

Before the new products arrived at the "battlefield", BMW's "planning layout" in the field of new energy actually entered the game long ago. For example, before almost all multinational car companies, it signed a contract with a local power battery ace supplier such as CATL Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., jointly developed car networking systems and applications with a number of Internet companies, and recently officially cooperated with State Grid to integrate more powerful offline charging network facilities for BMW users.

Although there is no suspense in the general direction of the transformation of traditional fuel vehicles to electrification, different traditional car companies still have different choices and their own paths on how to complete such "transformation". For BMW Group, which has been operating successfully all over the world, its strategy of relying on the China market as the strategic core to realize electrification transformation on a global scale is tantamount to being extremely forward-looking and wise.

So, innovative BMW? On the night of the stunning appearance of iX3 pure electric SUV in China, the strategic slogan "In China, for China, for the world" was repeatedly mentioned by BMW Greater China and BMW Brilliance executives. And innovative BMW? IX3 is the first pure electric vehicle manufactured by BMW in China and exported to the global market. On the one hand, it proves BMW's confidence in the technology and quality of independent electric vehicles; on the other hand, it also proves BMW's recognition of the leading stage of transformation and electrification of China's automobile industry.

And in the innovative BMW that has completed the "China debut"? IX3 and the second phase project of BMW Brilliance Power Battery Center, which has already started operation, bring together BMW's strategic prediction and deep thinking on the new era of electric travel in the future. In the subsequent interviews and exchanges, Dr. Weilander, President and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automobile Co., Ltd., and Dr. Dai, Senior Vice President of Technology and Production, two senior executives of BMW Group in China, elaborated on BMW's electrification "three views" in more detail.

From the answers of two BMW Brilliance executives after receiving a series of questions from the media, it is not difficult to see that BMW's "three views" in electrification transformation can be described as firm, independent and full of positive energy. Especially in the research and development of high-quality, safe and reliable pure electric vehicles, the technical route selection of power batteries, the development and management of power battery suppliers, and the construction and service of charging infrastructure, BMW and BMW Brilliance have adhered to a set of logically self-consistent, forward-looking and open and inclusive ways to look at problems and solutions.

For example, in the application of intelligent technology, especially the popularization of autonomous driving technology, BMW always insists that safe and reliable quality takes precedence over providing users with cool or even flashy functional experience, which is completely different from the new car-making enterprises such as BMW and Tesla. For another example, in the layout of the power battery field, on the basis of mastering the core technology first, BMW "Qi Fei" with suppliers, instead of relying entirely on the technical level and strength of suppliers to provide existing achievements, so as to ensure that it is always in the leading position in technological innovation.

At present, some local new energy vehicle companies in China are vigorously promoting the "power-changing mode", but BMW's attitude is "not catching a cold at all". The basic judgment of BMW Brilliance executives is that, in the medium and long term of electrification transformation, the "power exchange mode" is not a direction worthy of research and investment. Better still, the "power exchange mode" advocate who declared bankruptcy several years ago? Place has fully explained this point. In contrast, providing users with convenient charging facilities and efficient charging technology is the right direction worthy of increasing efforts. (The author of this article, Yang Xiaolin, is a senior auto media person and co-founder/editor-in-chief of Cheyi Media)

The following is a transcript (abridged) of the dialogue between the media and BMW Brilliance executives.

Question 0 1: Innovate pure electric BMW? IX3 uses 8 1 1 battery, but compared with other brands of 8 1 1 battery on the market, IX3' s battery energy density is relatively low, and the performance of 500 km battery life is not outstanding. Excuse me, what is this and what is the consideration?

Dr. Weilander: We are not blindly pursuing high energy density, but we should give consideration to both performance and safety. If you want to increase the energy density, it is easy to achieve it through stronger chemical reactions, but that may not be safe. In terms of batteries, we are committed to the all-round balance of energy density, performance, safety and life, that is, the most reliable battery product.

After comprehensive consideration, we chose the current 8 1 1 battery. At present, it is also the best choice to achieve the best balance on this model. This also shows that we have always attached great importance to the safety and quality of products.

Question 02: BMW has mastered very profound technology in the R&D and manufacturing of the whole power battery itself, including the establishment of a battery technology center in Munich. At present, some multinational car companies such as Volkswagen have begun to choose to invest in the field of power battery production. What do you think of this?

Dr. Weilander: I used to be in charge of powertrain procurement. Our very important topic is to decide which parts need to be purchased, which are self-produced and which are outsourced.

Specific to the field of batteries, understanding battery technology and independently producing batteries are actually very different. The purpose of establishing the battery technology center is to understand and master the requirements of high-quality batteries in terms of performance and specifications, and how to control the quality to ensure that the battery production of battery suppliers can meet BMW's specifications.

We know all aspects of batteries, but that doesn't mean we should produce batteries independently. Our purchasing strategy is completely different from other brands. At present, we will not produce batteries independently, but the expertise of the whole battery value chain will ensure that we are always at the forefront of technology.

Dr. De He Xuan: We need to fully master the technologies needed for electric vehicles, including the ecosystem in which electric vehicles operate. This is divided into three levels.

On the first level, the battery is a very important part of the whole electric drive system. So we have a battery technology center in Munich to study the chemical composition and design of batteries. To this end, we should thoroughly understand how to make batteries. At the same time, we have the ability to produce batteries, which can better show suppliers how to produce batteries. But that doesn't mean you have to do everything by yourself. We know what to do, and we have the ability to produce, which also provides us with more choices.

On the second level, the integration of drive system is a more important part of our research and development. Integration can be divided into two directions, one is the integration between the components of the drive system itself, and the other is the re-integration of the power system into the whole vehicle. This integration requires the cooperation between R&D department, production department and many other departments. At the same time, the R&D teams in Beijing, Shenyang and Munich also want Qi Xin to work together, give full play to their respective advantages and integrate everyone's technology and ability.

The third level is to integrate everyone's understanding of customers, that is, to know what functions are meaningful to customers. In addition to building a good car, customers should also be able to use it. Therefore, it is more necessary for internal parties, including external parties, to cooperate to create an ecosystem that is convenient for everyone to use the car.

Question 03: In order to solve users' anxiety about charging, many domestic new energy automobile companies are laying out "power exchange mode". Will BMW consider the layout of "power exchange mode"? Why?

Dr. Weilander: If you want to change the power, you need the power battery to be easy to disassemble. But this will conflict with the requirements of safety collision avoidance. In addition, preventing overheating is very important for battery safety, which requires good cooling performance and always maintains this performance. How to prevent battery cooling failure is also a big problem.

From these perspectives, there will be some contradictions in the requirements of easy disassembly, collision avoidance and heat dissipation. For this reason, we have not considered the power exchange mode at present. Whether the adopted mode is safe or not, the evaluation criteria should consider multiple dimensions, such as collision avoidance, overheating prevention and so on. Under the existing technical conditions, we still adopt the charging mode.

Dr. Dai: Besides the car itself, we should also consider it from the perspective of ecosystem. If we only build the technical facilities for electric vehicles around one manufacturer and one brand, the cost will be high, and it will be difficult to have enough breadth and depth to realize the standardization of batteries across brands. In addition to considering the safety of the battery itself, we should also consider whether it can be well integrated into the whole vehicle.

We hope to plan infrastructure facilities, and our technology choice also provides the possibility of fast charging, optimizing customer experience and ease of use, thus improving everyone's car experience as a whole. We will consider this more and do better than other enterprises. Through strategic cooperation with State Grid, by the end of the year, we will connect 270,000 public charging piles nationwide, and the charging network will be widely covered. The power switching mode does not have the same advantages.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.